By Grey Johnson

05.09 - Well folks, after a short hiatus, I'm back and more mediocre than ever. Thankfully I didn't miss much, but this week is EXPLOSIVE....

....if you're Canadian or a Roy Jones fan.

This weekend, Roy takes on yet another mandatory in Clinton Woods. Is Woods any good? Well, it seems most people don't think so. I doubt most of those people have ever seen Woods actually fight. I mean, outside of Britain, does anybody know a whole lot about this guy? I can't say he stinks for a FACT, I've never seen him fight. On PAPER, he looks like nothing special. I'm not saying Woods will defiantly surprise all of us because we don't know anything about him, but I'm saying that we as boxing fans have a tendency to write off foreign fighters that we have neither seen or heard of them.

I think this is something a lot of boxing fans (and writers) in the United States do. I looked in the newest Ring magazine, and low and behold Joe Calzaghe was ranked above Sven Ottke at 168. Despite the fact Ottke has been much more active and has fought tougher opponents, Calzaghe reigns at the top spot. Could it possibly be because Calzaghe fights on American television (Showtime) and speaks English? Compare this to Ottke, who fights in Germany, and nowhere near American television? I think it's a pattern that we all can admit we fall into. Perfect example: How many fans outside of Germany knew who Octay Urkal was, and that he would do as well as he did against Tszyu? One quick look at his record, and it didn't look like anything exciting before that fight. In fact, I picked Tszyu to win by KO5 right before that fight. I did all this without seeing a tape of Urkal.

Most of the time, boxing fans can get away with this. We all knew Glenn Kelly was going to suck. Considering the amount of Roy's talent, and that I knew that the guy Kelly beat to get the #1 contender slot was not very good, I assumed Roy was going to have an easy night. You know the rest. With Woods, it's a different story. He has wins over a lot of guys with nice looking records, but I don't follow the British boxing scene, so I can't make a definite statement about the level of opposition he was beating. How about Yawe Davis, the guy Woods beat to get this title shot? Even though Davis is 39, maybe Woods beating him would be more impressive if we knew how good Davis is Maybe Woods won't win, but it is possible he could do well.. I guess my point is that just because we may only read about certain fighters from far across the world, we can't consider them to be inferior to the ones we get to watch on television every week.

With that, let us go into the fights this weekend:

Roy Jones (46-1) vs. Clinton Woods (32-1)

I know I can say with confidence that Jones will win, but how he'll do it is hard to predict. How good is Clinton Woods? From Compubox stats in his past fights, he sounds like a tough fighter who throws a lot but can be hit. Can Woods take a punch, and how determined is he to last the distance? Also, this fight in is Portland a.k.a. Nikeland. Does Jones want to impress his endorsers with a nice, quick knockout? Who knows? I guess tune into HBO if you really care enough to find out.

Winky Wright (43-3) vs. Bronco McKart (45-3)

I think it's hard to believe that McKart can still rack up some good wins after each time Wright beats him. I really don't see the scenario changing for this third fight between these two. I'll take Wright by UD, but McKart will win some rounds. I really don't find much interest in this fight.

Eric Lucas (35-4-3) vs. Omar Sheika (23-3)

The fight everybody in Quebec is talking about. Lucas, wildly considered nothing more than a paper champion at 168 makes his best title defense to date against Omar Sheika. The funny this is, I know Lucas will win. Lucas has EVERYTHING going for him, a very good chin, the fight is in his hometown, 40,000 fans cheering his name, and he has improved his overall skills as a fighter. Sheika has power, but he cuts so much. If Thomas Tate can mess up Sheika's face in three minutes of work, I think Lucas can find some success. I am taking Lucas TKO6 by cuts. You may call me insane, but we'll see on Friday!

Attila Levin (24-1) vs. Ross Puritty (28-16-3)

Levin by unanimous decision. Puritty has stunk it out twice in a row; I saw the fight against Vitali. He looked like he had his gloves glued to his head. I think Levin should just coast to an easy decision and not even consider the knockout.

Ok folks, have a good weekend. Enjoy boxing ... and school (if you still go to it) :)